A
Special Report on the Fertility Industry:What
Price Pregnancy?Since the birth of the first "test
tube baby," assisted reproductive technologies
have been hailed as medical miracles. Ms. goes
behind the hype.>by Ann Pappert

IN
THE MAGAZINE:

MARRIAGE
NOW - Both Sides Now:
She married at 18 and instead of finding bliss, she
became a shrinking woman. Now, at 54, marriage is on
her mind again.- Marriage Vegas Style
In this desert empire 295 couples marry every day.-Who Wants to Marry a Feminist?
But the real question is why do feminists want marriage?-Otherwise Engaged
The issue of same-sex marriage has sparked an impassioned
debate. Asked if she would marry if she could, this
author takes a long hard look at the institution and
herself.-What,
Me Marry?

A
SPECIAL REPORT ON THE FERTILITY INDUSTRY-What
Price Pregnancy?
Ms. goes behind the hype of assisted reproductive technologies.
PLUS:-Inconceivable
When it comes to fertility treatments, gender makes
all the difference.

BERLIN
DIARIES
Her immediate family fled Germany before being swept up
in the Holocaust, but they forever mourned the loved ones
who didn't survive and the life they'd once shared.

Why
would Hillary Rodham Clinton want to run for
the Senate--from New York, Illinois, or anywhere?
Imagine the scenario if she loses: all the right-wingers
who sported "Impeach Hillary's husband" bumper
stickers will claim victory, as will those behind
thecurrent TV ads that burlesque Hillary as
the Statue of Liberty. If she wins, what happens?
She gets to live in the free-floating hostility
of Washington again, this time without the protection
of the White House, working every day under
such senior senators as Jesse Helms and Strom
Thurmond.

Is
this a lose-lose situation or what?

As
one of the most famous and admired women on
the world stage, she had plenty of alternatives.
For example, she could have raised a huge pot
of foundation money and become an international
force on the women's and children's issues that
have always been close to her heart. Instead,
she is now doing daily combat with New York's
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, one of the most vindictive
and racially divisive politicians of our time,
and also discovering a fact of life for any
female candidate: there is no "right" way for
a woman to seek power.

So
why did she choose this path of maximum resistance?

After
months of listening to her as she campaigns around New
York State, I think the answer is simple: she wanted
to use the lessons she learned as the partner of a politician,
and to do so in Washington, where she also witnessed
the power that even one U.S. senator can have over the
issues she cares about. Though her goals have been created
by experience and interests that are different from
her husband's--her work as a lawyer for the Watergate
Committee, a top corporate lawyer, a children's rights
advocate, a policy wonk on health care, and an international
activist on women's issues--she wants to advance them
by using her derived experience in campaigning, building
coalitions, dealing with the press, cultivating a thick
skin, making Washington work, and other time-honored
secrets of getting and using elected power.

This
bridging of worlds is a new possibility. Eleanor Roosevelt
was an intimate lobbyist with her husband, but not a
practitioner of elected power. As for such beneficiaries
of derived power as Senator Margaret Chase Smith and
Representative Lindy Boggs, they waited for husbands
to die before taking over their Congressional seats,
thus obeying the rule that in a patriarchy, it's only
widows who are honored in authority.

Perhaps
these differences are part of the reason that Hillary
Clinton is accused of exploiting her wifely position--even
by some feminists. They ask, "Why doesn't she stick
to her own professional experience? Isn't she setting
feminism back by exploiting the power she gained as
a wife?"

But
those questions betray a double standard. They also
ignore the wisdom gained in traditionally female roles.
The fact is, the Bush boys would be nowhere without
the derived power of their father's presidency; John
Glenn used the male-only privilege of being an astronaut
to become a U.S. senator; and John McCain went from
prisoner of war to the Senate and almost to the White
House. Those experiences were far less relevant to the
political job at hand than Hillary's eight years in
Washington, yet they were highly valued. Meanwhile,
such largely female experiences as parenting, teaching,
community organizing, and living on welfare have been
undervalued as political training grounds. This double
standard wouldn't last if it hadn't been internalized
by women ourselves. That's one of the reasons for a
disheartening fact: female registered voters in New
York State are almost equally divided between Hillary
Clinton and Rudolph Giuliani. Of course, women are not
immune to the law-and-order, wealth-protecting Republican
platform, especially because Republican leadership in
New York is slightly less bad on gender-gap issues.
(For example, the governor and New York City's mayor
both oppose the criminalization of abortion.)

Still
another reason for some women voter's hesitancy is the
anger they feel toward Hillary for remaining married
to an unfaithful husband, especially women who themselves
have been hurt by faithless men. And then there are
the women who have been exposed only to the right-wing
image of Hillary.

For
all those who don't support her, the bottom-line question
is: would you support a male candidate with the same
issue positions? If the answer is yes, it's worth rooting
out the double standard. Because Hillary Clinton's success
as the first crossover candidate would be a landmark
for a larger issue: making partnered and other female
experience a source of talent, honor, and credit.